Tara Nugent sometimes combines work and working out by bringing a sales rep she’s meeting to her class at Physique 57. Photo: Rahav Iggy Segev/Photopass

Variety is the key for Alexandra Perakis, who likes to include spin classes, 5K runs, kickboxing and even swing dance lessons in her exercise routine. (
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Dorri Olds, who works from home in Chelsea, says having her dog, Buddy, forces her to get moving on their three to four walks per day. (Rahav Iggy Segev/Photopass)

Dorri Olds, a 50-year-old writer, graphic designer and social-media consultant, works out of her apartment in Chelsea. But even though she has a flexible schedule, she often finds herself trapped behind her computer for 12 hours at a time.

The retired gym rat — and self-proclaimed workaholic — wanted to get exercise back into her daily routine, without returning to the gym. “It just got really exhausting and obsessive,” she says.

So she got a dog, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel who forces her to take exercise breaks. “My dog has a built-in clock, and after a few hours he’ll come get my attention and tell me it’s time for a walk,” Olds says. She takes him on three brisk 20-minute walks a day around her neighborhood, and usually goes for an additional longer stroll.

“I was never heavy but I was a little pudgier than I wanted to be. Now Buddy and I strut our stuff while we have a great time exercising together,” Olds says. “And I am able to maintain a healthy weight.”

Joy Bauer, an NYC-based nutritionist and “Today” show contributor, would approve. In her new book, “The Joy Fit Club: Cookbook, Diet Plan & Inspiration,” Bauer promotes daily exercise as one of her “winning weight loss rules.”

Exercising every day is a tall order for busy New Yorkers, whose schedules are so booked, they barely have time for a Starbucks run.

Besides, for the typical multitasking Manhattanite, going to the gym or running laps in the park can get . . . boring.

But a key way to drop pounds — and look smoking in that DVF dress — is to get 30 minutes of physical activity a day, so Bauer suggests finding creative ways to do so.

“Busy New Yorkers are the people who need

to exercise every day, because it will help them tackle the gazillion balls they’re juggling,” Bauer tells The Post.

Thankfully, Bauer, a busy New Yorker herself, defines exercise as “moving continuously,” which makes fitting in that daily half-hour less daunting.

“It doesn’t even have to be 30 minutes at a time,” she says, noting that three 10-minute breaks are perfectly acceptable.

To help you stick to your daily regime, put your exercise plan on your calendar as a scheduled appointment. “When it’s written down, it becomes more formal, so you plan for it and make it happen,” says Bauer.

That’s the approach taken by Tara Nugent, a 31-year-old associate director at Omnicom. Nugent, who lives in Gramercy, routinely attends work events and entertains clients after hours, so she maps out a week’s worth of workouts on Sunday nights, figuring out when to take classes at Physique 57 or hit the elliptical at the gym.

When she doesn’t have an open slot, she combines work and working out — bringing a sales rep to a class and getting a drink afterward, instead of sitting down for a gluttonous business dinner. “It’s a great way to network and check exercise off the list simultaneously,” says Nugent.

Still, you don’t have to take an expensive class to meet your daily exercise quota.

“Instead of saying to yourself, ‘I don’t go to the gym enough,’ you should be saying, ‘I don’t move enough,’ ” says Alex Zimmerman, national training manager at Equinox. “If you compare someone who works out three hours a week [in installments of] 30 minutes at a high intensity and a waitress who’s on her feet working shifts five days a week, I’d put my money on the waitress in terms of overall caloric expenditure.”

One of the biggest challenges is avoiding an exercise rut.

“You don’t want to view exercise as humdrum, because then it becomes a negative thing,” Bauer says. “Exploring all the cool classes New York has to offer is smart because it keeps things fresh and takes away from the torture aspect.”

Alexandra Perakis, a 33-year-old account executive at Theatermania.com who commutes from Union City, NJ, says: “I always try to keep working out fun and mix it up. I sign up for 5Ks and mud runs, I take spinning classes and I recently started kickboxing, which I’ve been dragging my boyfriend into.”

Perakis and her boyfriend also regularly take swing-dance lessons. “It’s fun to have someone to go with, and helps me stay motivated.”

On the days when she doesn’t have time for dancing or kick-boxing? Perakis does what New Yorkers do best: She walks — to and from Port Authority to her office in Midtown — fast.

YOUR 7-DAY PLAN: Want to squeeze in 30 minutes of exercise a day without spending it at the gym? Mix it up with a week of activities from Joy Bauer.

* Monday Odds are you can’t fit a treadmill into your apartment. So when your favorite TV show cuts to commercials, jump off the couch and march in place, or do a set of lunges or crunches. During each two-minute break, you can burn an extra 20 calories. That could add up to a total of 100 calories during an hourlong program.

* Tuesday Take two 15-minute walks during your workday: Go to the Chop’t five blocks farther away for lunch, and take a stroll with your co-worker to catch up on office gossip.

* Wednesday Avoid elevators and escalators for the entire day, if possible. If you’re going up five floors or fewer, take the stairs. If you live or work on a high floor, get off five floors early and take the stairs. Ten minutes of climbing can burn up to 80 calories.

* Thursday Get off the subway one stop early and finish your commute on foot. Both ways.

* Friday You don’t have to spend big bucks on fancy fitness classes. Taking a donation-based yoga class is an affordable way to fit in a few sun salutations. Visit yogoer.com for a list of studios.

* Saturday Be a tourist in your own city: Walk one of NYC’s fabulous attractions, such as the Central Park Zoo or the High Line, or take a stroll over the Brooklyn Bridge — just skip the stop at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria after!

* Sunday Pick a restaurant at least 20 blocks away, and walk there and back for dinner. You’ll burn two miles’ worth of calories by the time you get home.